Darkened Clouds Don't Always Lead To Rain
by xYukixTenshix
Summary: Things change. People change with them. Can anything ever be the same as it once was? Well, maybe not. But Sam and Astrid will try, or die trying. Spin off to the actual book, Gone, by Michael Grant.


Disclaimer: I don't own Gone. It belongs to the author- Michael Grant. I own any original characters that come in the story.

A/N: I just finished reading Gone. Again. I've read it like 10 billion times. I. LOVE. THAT. DAMN. STORY!!! Anyway... just thought I'd post a fanfic. It's kind of a spin-off from the original storyline, seeing as Hunger is coming out in May/June. I'm excited for that follow-up! I know it will be awesome. (Hunger is the sequel) Well, enjoy.

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"Sam, wake up!" said a distressed voice. The boy lying in the bed, Sam Temple, instantly recognized the voice to be Astrid Ellison's. She was also known as Astrid the Genius for her incredible intellectual skills, and before the FAYZ, was only a person Sam admired from a distance. But after the entire population of adults had disappeared,_ Sam and her had become __exceptionally_ close. Situations of life and death had taught them to value each other more than ever, and so they did.

At first- after the adults "poofed"- it had been awkward for them, which (at the time) had included Quinn Gaither, Sam's best friend. But they'd managed to find Astrid's little brother, Little Pete, with Edilio's help. The kids from up the hill at Coates Academy had come down to Perdido Beach to "make peace" and "work together." Sam soon learned it was all a facade, and Caine, the leader of the Coates kid, was nothing but power hungry. Not only was Caine a fraud, but the two soon discovered they were brothers!

Disturbing as it all was, strange had gone to insane when the kids began to get impossible, dangerous powers. Some had even began to mature their powers _before_ the FAYZ, such as Sam and Caine. Sam, who had the power to shoot an incredible light from his hand that could kill. Caine, who had the fiercely strong power of telekinesis. Little Pete, who Sam, Astrid, and Edilio had found to be the source of the FAYZ. He'd the power to teleport in a sense. Unfortunately for them, Little Pete was a severely autistic four year old who did not relate to the world around him.

"Sam!" Astrid cried again, anxious for whatever reason she was upset for. The now-fifteen-year-old boy fluttered his eyelids open, taking in the sight of Astrid crouched in front of him. She was looking over her shoulder, out into the hall, with a distraught and worried look on her face. Sam sat up with little effort, catching a glimpse of the clock that read 2:32 A.M. He wondered what would worry Astrid at this time of night. Caine? No, his brother had too large of an ego to attack when he wasn't expected. What could it be?

"What's going on, Astrid?" Sam asked as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. His words were slurred from sleepiness, and he had to adjust his vision to the darkness to see somewhat clearly.

"It's Petey... he's.. he..." Astrid couldn't continue, unsure of how to finish her sentence. Sam was wide awake now and stood in swift motion, Astrid following suit. Sam pondered what Petey could do to upset the genius girl so much. Unless he'd teleported alone. But it was unlikely, seeing as Little Pete slept like a rock in a silent room.

"What did L.P. do?" Sam voiced his thoughts, earning himself a troubled look from Astrid. This worried Sam; he hadn't seen her like this since Caine had tried to use her as a shield to protect himself from Sam.

"J-Just follow me, 'kay?" she said nervously. Sam nodded, and they headed into the living room through the black shadows of the house. They were in Sam's house; they'd switched between Quinn's place, Sam's home, or a random house in the last month. Sam didn't want to be here though, but this had been going on ever since the Thanksgiving dinner Albert Hillsborough had thrown together after the battle with Caine.

One month.

That's all that had passed since the battle with the Coates kids (not all of them, though). That's all that had gone by since Sam had almost "poofed" on his birthday.

One month.

One month since nineteen kids had died from either coyotes or another cause.

But Sam couldn't think about that now. Astrid was worried; something was going on with Little Pete, and he intended to find the cause and stop it.

"I...I don't know what's wrong. I woke up and Little Pete wasn't there, so I went to go get you, but I saw him here. I-I can't get to him!" Astrid remarked, her voice almost pleading and barely above a whisper. Sam gaped.

There, in the middle of the living room, was Little Pete. He was hunched over with his arms wrapped around his knees that he hugged to his chest. He trembled and rocked back and forth violently, shaking his head from side to side like a panicked horse. His mouth stood agape, as if trying to say something but unable to. Tears could be seen clearly streaming down his face like mini-waterfalls.

But, most appalling of all was probably the transparent bubble around him. You couldn't notice it at first, but it seemed like it gave off it's own light, yet it was obviously see-through. Sam reached to touch it, and instantly recoiled his hand when his fingers made contact with the surface of the bubble. It had burned him like the FAYZ wall had seared him, not exactly painful, but far from comfortable.

"What the hell?" he asked himself, unable to comprehend what was happening. He would have tried yelling to Little Pete, but that would have been useless, given that Petey hardly ever responded to someone calling to him.

What was he to do now?

"Maybe if..." Sam wondered aloud, trying to formulate a plot in his head, wheels turning and his thoughts whirring. He raced to the kitchen and threw open the drawers, searching for the object of his plan.

"Sam! What are you looking for?" Astrid inquired as she walked in, still clearly upset.

"An oven mitt!" he cried, still hunting through the cabinets and drawers. He almost felt embarrassed because the house was his own, and he didn't know where the damn _oven mitt_ was. Astrid went to the far side of the kitchen, where Sam had not yet looked, and opened a cabinet. She pulled out the yellow oven mitt and tossed it to Sam. He wasn't sure how she knew, and neither was she, but Sam took it and sped out of the room again into the living room where Little Pete was.

When Astrid entered the room, Sam was standing in front of the bubble, to the right of Petey. He looked hesitant, almost scared. But he was remembering when he had awaken Little Pete in the middle of the night, ending in him choking on the floor by an unseen force. That wasn't a pleasant feeling.

Yet, after a moment more of faltering, he slipped on the mitt and began to beat the surface of the bubble over and over, all the while trying to get Petey to calm down by repeating the phrase 'Window seat.'

And then it was gone.

The surface of the bubble had disappeared, taking the faint glow of light with it. Sam's hand hadn't expected it to disappear, so he brought his hand down; he was able to stop it before it hit Little Pete, only inches from his head. The teenage boy released a deep breath he had been holding in, shocked and confused.

Little Pete looked up at him with his big, blank, ice blue eyes. The tears were gone, but his freckled cheeks were bright red, and he still rocked back and forth, yet not nearly as harsh as he had been doing so earlier.

"Window seat, L.P," Sam whispered to him. Petey blinked slowly, almost seeming to think over the meaning of Sam's words. Astrid walked over quietly, plainly just as bewildered as him. The two older kids locked eyes, sighed, and again stared down at Astrid's little brother. He stood gradually, taking Astrid's hand impassively and leading her to the kitchen.

"Munchy munchy," he uttered, as if nothing had even happened.

*_*_*_*

Morning broke through the curtains, awakening both Astrid and Sam. They had stayed in the same room, so Petey would not leave the room. Sam slept against the door while Astrid and Little Pete shared the bed. When Sam opened his eyes, he found Petey sitting under the window, playing his GameBoy, totally oblivious to the world around him. His face glowed slightly from the light of the game, giving him an eerie appearance.

"G'morning Sam," Astrid yawned from the bed. Sam looked over at her, bright, blonde hair falling around her shoulders, her piercing blue eyes penetrating him. Even now, he could not get over her intense beauty. She was his world now.

He smiled at her, and she returned it. Then she frowned again.

"What...do you think that was last night?" she asked, glancing over at Petey.

"I'm not sure, but the barrier around him was like the FAYZ wall, and he did _cause_ the wall to be there. I'm sure something like that must have been simple for him. We still don't even know his true power," Sam concluded. He thought about how Little Pete had caused him to choke, how he'd made the adults disappear, how'd he put up the FAYZ wall, and how he was able to teleport himself.

"Do you think he could have, I don't know, _more_ than just one power?" Astrid contemplated, seeming to read Sam's thoughts. He looked at his own hands, wondering if it _was_ possible for the four-year-old to have multiple powers.

The door bell rang several times just then.

Sam and Astrid, with Little Pete, went to the door, opening it to find Edilio standing there. His hands were on his knees, and he was breathing heavily, as if he'd just run a long way. He probably had, since he had a tendency to stay at the firehouse, which was at least ten blocks away.

"Hey, man, you gotta come look at this," he panted. He stepped away from the door, gesturing with his hand to come outside.

Immediately, Sam saw what was wrong. The day seemed different than usual. Colder. Darker, even. And he saw the reason why.

Astrid gasped.

Ever since the FAYZ, the weather was always mild. Sunny and warm. They hadn't exactly thought much about the weather. Astrid had concluded that since the clouds were basically trapped within the barrier, they couldn't gain much water. And the sun had been a mystery alone.

But today, the clouds were dark and heavy, looking like they were about to spill over with water droplets.

"Storm clouds?" Astrid voiced.

"No way..." Sam whispered. It wasn't bad. Sam didn't mind the rain, but for some reason, this just didn't feel right.

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A/N: Well, thanks for reading! Hope you liked it. I take forever to update though, so don't expect another chapter for awhile. Byee!


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